


How Kim Lost Babysitting Privileges

by snacc_noir



Series: The King of Competitions [6]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Babysitting, Doofus and Highly-Advanced Tech-Bot's Day out, Either way Kim shouldn't be allowed to do it, Gen, Kim was literally telling Markov to get in the water during Syren I'm just saying, Shenanigans, Swimming, or Robot-sitting?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-18
Updated: 2019-10-18
Packaged: 2020-12-21 10:42:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21073580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snacc_noir/pseuds/snacc_noir
Summary: Kim has a nice surprise for his and Markov's day out - After all,he neverdidfinish teaching him how to swim that akuma attack, did he?





	How Kim Lost Babysitting Privileges

**Author's Note:**

> Kim and Markov?? 100% underrated and not seen enough. Period.

“Where exactly are we going?”

Kim shot a side-long smirk at the high-teched robot flying behind him, furthering the adjustment of the blue towel slung over his shoulder. “It’s a surprise, Markov,” he said with little repression of his excitement. “But we’re gonna have heaps of fun.”

“Max didn’t program me with the ability to predict surprises.”

Kim pushed on the swinging entryway door to let himself and Markov slip through the threshold. “That’s because you’re not _supposed_ to predict surprises.”

He looked thoughtful. “Max said to be careful of your surprises.”

Kim tossed the swimming bag in his grasp under a nearby bench and sighed. Max had told him to do a _fun_ activity with his robot while he went to his Math competition thing, and yet warned Markov to be careful of his _always fun _surprises? Rude.

He commenced into his stretching-routine without facing him and murmured, “He was probably talking about Alix.”

Markov’s digital eyes pixilated into question marks as he hovered beside Kim. “But there’s a zero per cent chance of that? I can remember and record every conversation my microphone picks up. Would you like me to play Max saying to be cautious of what your surprises actually involve?”

He froze stretching his arms and held back a groan.

The robot had been away from his creator _ten_ minutes and already he wouldn’t stop talking about him.

“No, it’s fine,” he assured though his teeth. “But you don’t have to take everything that Max says seriously.”

“Max is my best friend. He set my rules and fills me with knowledge I cannot gain myself.”

“Max isn’t _here_ now,” Kim leered as he whipped off his hoodie and stretched his cap on. “Don’t worry about anything he’s said about me. You finally get to have some fun with your favourite uncle Kim!”

Markov observed him with scepticism as he slid into the empty community pool beside their standing point. “Are we going to time your laps?”

“Nope. Today isn’t even one of my swimming days, that’s why Ondine isn’t here.” He folded his arms atop the gravel pool edge and peered up at Markov. “I’m going to teach you how to swim.”

He stared. “Swim?”

“Yep! Don’t worry though, you don’t have to get in the water. It’s always nerve-racking the first time, so you can watch me from the edge.”

Markov stayed silent as he hovered above a bench. Kim began to tread water and outstretched his arms over his head.

“This one’s called freestyle. It’s not actually a free style, because you have to do it in a particular way. You kick your feet with ballerina-toes while your stroke looks like this.” His uplifted arms moved in un-sync windmill motions.

The robot still looked confused. “The only stroke I’ve ever heard of is the one related to brain failure.” He made a gasping noise. “Your brain isn’t failing, is it Kim?! Alix _can’t_ be right!” he bellowed indignantly. “Marinette said she was joking! You’re not dying, are you?! Oh no, Max would be so angry with me if I let you die while you’re babysitting me!”

Kim’s arms deflated to melt in the water. “Uh—no, I’m not… dying?” He shook his head. “That’s a different type of stroke. This type of stroke is one that swimmers do. There’s a few I can teach you. Like breaststroke.”

“Is that the ‘frog’ one you mentioned while Paris was flooded?”

“Yes!” He overlay his arms across the water and pushed them outwards, formulating ripples. “This is what your arms do, except out in front of your head while you’re swimming since you’re face-down in the water. Your legs move like a frog.”

“I have very interesting facts about frogs in my memory-drive,” Markov spoke with gestures of his mechanical hand. “Nathaniel showed me one in real life. I thought it was very fascinating, and then Alix placed it on me. I had such a fright one of my wires short-circuited.”

Kim blinked at him, before waving it off. “Well, I told you I was better than Alix. You’re lucky you weren’t stuck with her for today.”

As he morphed into a different position to begin backstroke, Markov halted his swimming when exclaiming, “Actually, Max intended to hand me to her for today.”

Kim arched himself upright and creased his brows. “What do you mean?”

“Alix was too busy helping her dad with something to take care of me today, so Max called you. He was hesitant because of the last ice cream incident.”

He couldn’t hide his frown. “Max trusted _Alix_ more than _me_?”

“Well Marinette was another option but—”

**_Ping_**.

Markov flew to the bag beneath the bench he was hovering over. “That sounded like your phone.”

“Can you check it please?”

He used his claw-like hand to unzip the swimming bag and rummaged for the requested object. He raised it out and read the alighted screen. “Max is wondering how we are doing.”

Kim swam to the pool’s edge. “Um… say we’re going good, but don’t give him the idea of where we are.”

Markov beamed and nodded. “Got it.”

A thin, metallic pointer opened from his chest so he could type the answer on the phone. After a few taps were made, Markov secured the phone back in the swimming bag and returned his hovered position over the bench.

“Are you ready for the next demonstration?” Kim locked his hands upon the edge’s grip and hoisted himself out of the pool. “Because this is the funnest one.”

“Do you mean the most fun?”

Kim stood and flicked a few droplets away. “Sure.”

“If you are showing me a swimming technique, then why are you not _in_ the water?”

His lips curved into his famed grin. “That’s because I will be.” He took a few steps away from Markov, and swivelled to face the pool. His heels dug into the gravel while his toes fell over the edge.

Markov watched Kim squat before raising his arms into a pencil pose and leaping in.

A gush of water soared at the contact to make a circular wave around where Kim had jumped. It looked incredible, the robot decided.

“That’s—” Kim gasped as his head emerged from the water, “—what a dive is. It’s my favourite thing to do in swimming. I could teach you how to do it, too.”

Markov was buzzing with excitement. He had never seen such fun involved with the water before, and he found himself willing to perform the same trick that Kim did instantly.

“Yes! I would love that.”

Kim smiled and raised himself out of the pool again.

“Okay, so first of all you’re going to come to the edge and—”

“**_KIM_**!”

Through the swirl of surprise Kim almost tipped himself backwards into the pool if he hadn’t caught himself at the last second.

With blown eyes he flashed to the sound and was undoubtedly even_ more_ stunned to see Max standing at the entryway looking a way Kim had never seen him.

Very, _very_ angry.

“Are you _trying_ to kill Markov?!”

Kim contemplated that maybe ‘accidentally’ falling into the pool wasn’t such a bad idea after all as his friend surged towards him.

“Wh—_How_?!” Kim stared at him in the ridiculousness scenario, trying to comprehend if it was real or not. “Why are you here?!”

Instantaneously—as though he had been anticipating the question—Max held up his phone displaying a series of text messages.

“‘We’re going good’,” Max read off the screen. “‘One-hundred-percent _not_ at the pool learning to swim. Don’t get the idea, please. Lots of love, Kim’.”

A wave of realisation washed over him.

Kim looked at Markov accusingly.

“I said _don’t_ make it sound like we’re at the pool!”

The robot’s eyes pixelated into exclamation marks. “I told Max that we weren’t here! Just like you said.”

Kim sighed and brought his hand up to his face.

Max was glaring at the swimming-truck clad teen like his life depended on it. “You’re lucky they postponed the competition for an hour, or I wouldn’t have been able to come.” He shoved his phone in his pocket and stomped further up to Kim. “You _do_ realise if Markov went in the water that he would malfunction _and electrocute you_?!”

Kim tipped his head back and groaned as if he were a child scolded by a parent. “I wasn’t going to let him get _in_ the water,” he whined. “Just above it. To follow my lead.”

Max stared at him doubtfully.

“I was just about to teach him how to dive! —In the air of course. We were having so much fun!” Kim tossed a smile to Markov and patted his head. “He loves his uncle Kim.”

Max sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose to fend off a headache.

“I think Alix will be receiving full-custody of babysitting duties after this.”

**Author's Note:**

> This was so fun to write last year for Kim appreciation week (Day 6: Swimming) - I'm publishing the days as little works


End file.
